


The Guardian

by Ignicula



Category: God Eater (Video Games), God Eater 3
Genre: Claire and Hugo don't like each other very much, First Impressions, M/M, Paranoia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23652559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ignicula/pseuds/Ignicula
Summary: Claire Victorious just wants to do her job and deliver the cargo to Gleipnir. The sudden acquisition of seven extra passengers was not part of the job description. She just hopes none of them get it into their heads to try and steal her precious cargo.
Relationships: Slight Hugo Pennywort/Male Protagonist
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	The Guardian

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I decided to do a fic for the meeting with Claire. I hope you all enjoy.

Claire Victorious had not been aboard the Chrysanthemum long, but she’d already solidified in her mind what the others on board were.

Hilda was her escort. Ricardo was a fellow God-Eater employed by Port Chrysanthemum, and Amy was their…

Well, Amy certainly had a lot of jobs. She was friendly and so Claire was friendly in return, but her relationship with all three of them had been a cordial business-only state of affairs. 

And now… There are seven AGEs onboard that she has no prior knowledge of.  _ They are outside of my mission’s parameters. At best, they will simply tag along with Hilda and defend the ship. At worst, they will threaten my mission and need to be put down. _

Normally, Claire didn’t hold her weapon in-hand at all times and would wander every now and then. Now she stood steadfast at the door, the picture-perfect Gleipnir God Eater.

Her stance becomes immediately more alert as the doors of the elevator slide open. A boy in black and orange, the leader of the seven AGEs, walks out first, followed closely by the boy with white hair covering one blue eye. The taller clearly made to head towards the medical bay at first, but the other stopped. A single blue eye locked onto her, the other concealed by his shiny pure-white hair.

_ White hair in someone so young is rather rare,  _ Claire thinks before her mind hones in on the fact that he was looking straight at her and this was probably a bad thing.

The other pauses, glancing at Luca, and then looking to her. He looked equally curious, and without any verbal cues to one another they advanced.

She wonders if she should threaten them to stay back with her gun, eyes flickering between them, but she only reads curiosity in their movements, not hostility.  _ So they didn’t have any prior knowledge about me. That’s good. _

“What’s this?” She asks, voice verging on hostile. Her guard is fully up, and she’s prepared to fight if they make any sudden moves.  _ I shouldn’t have allowed them this close. _

“I was just wondering if it’s a common occurrence to find God Eaters from Gleipnir travelling with caravans.” The taller one says, the other lurking slightly behind him. She can’t say that he looks nearly as threatening as the other, however. She can’t say why, however. He looks somehow more…

No, he’s definitely the most relaxed person in the room at the moment.  _ Why is that? _

“I suppose you’re keeping an eye on some cargo back there. Is that right?”

Her eyes narrow and her body tenses. She hefts her gun for good measure. “The area up ahead is under Gleipnir jurisdiction. I cannot allow you to proceed.” She makes sure she’s loud enough for the security systems to pick up her voice, silently hoping that Hilda will make them leave. She’s heard bad things about AGEs throughout her life, and she doesn’t want to put her luck to the test in those things being wrong now. 

“Meaning what you’ve got stowed up there is a special delivery for Gleipnir,” he deduces.

“Ah…”  _ I fell right into that!  _ She curses herself. Maybe they didn’t know what was back there, but she knows that AGEs are owned by ports. She knows of more than one instance of AGEs stealing in hopes of trying to buy back their contracts or on behalf of their ports. She doesn’t even know where these two are  _ from  _ yet. She stares the boy down when suddenly the other one jumps as if surprised. His visible eye locks on the door, though it’s unfocused. He takes a few steps forwards, as if seeing  _ through  _ Claire and the door. Her eyes catch on a strange light that seems to be emitting from him.

_ Is that… resonance? _

But if so, what could he be resonating  _ with _ ?

She’s not the only one to notice his strange behavior. The other one turns to him, grey eyes concerned. “Hey… Hey!” He places a hand on his shoulder and tries to turn him to face him. “Are you okay?” The boy jumps, eyes clearing, and said eyes dart around, as if he hadn’t noticed the situation changing, and then gives a small nod to the other. The boy stands, having the side effect of being slightly between her and the other AGE. “So tell me, what’s your name?”

There’s no problem with answering that, and though the display of weakness could have been a farce on the part of the blue-eyed AGE the concern the taller one showed was genuine, not to mention the act of getting between them in the face of her hostility. She’s slightly more at ease now, though she’s not sure she should be. “Gleipnir 6th Engineering Battalion, Special Transport Unit, Claire Victorious.” She introduces herself.

The two AGEs exchange a look, and the taller one scratches the back of his neck a tad awkwardly.  _ They’re a lot more… normal than I expected _ , she thinks when she gauges their reactions. 

“You can just call me Hugo Pennywort.” The tall one extends his hand to shake. She doesn’t.

“The owner told me about you.” Claire says, relieved to finally be able to remember the name she’d been given. “It seems you helped with clearing our route.” That doesn’t mean she trusts him. “Understand that while I do applaud the work you’ve done, I cannot approve of any frivolous actions you take in the field. Do not expect any special favor for it.”

“Great, a teacher’s pet,” Hugo mutters to his companion as if she’s not standing inches away from him. She bristles, giving him her best glare. 

“I am only doing the job that I was assigned,” she spits out, but decides not to escalate this into a fight. “If we’re in combat together, I’ll be trusting you to perform.”

Finally, the silent one steps forwards past the slightly protective wall Hugo’s become between them, seeming to hold  _ no  _ hostility or attitude whatsoever. His visible eye is surprisingly clear when he looks at her, as if he really does have no ulterior motive…

_ Unlike a certain companion of his with a smart mouth. _

He extends his hand next, wordlessly, as if actually expecting a handshake. His hand is much smaller than the other’s… scrawnier, almost, even though he seems to be far stronger physically by appearance alone. 

“Huh?” She blinks, caught off-guard by the sudden gesture. She expects the hand to drop, but the silent AGE… no, not silent,  _ shy _ , she thinks, just gives a small nod.

She looks down at the hand, and then to the slightly hopeful face, and finds she can’t quite resist the urge.

She moves her gun to the side, hand held up to her chest. “It… It was nice meeting you.” She shakes the hand. It’s calloused from years of using a God Arc, skin slightly rough and a bit dry. The hand is small for a male’s hand, just like his height. When she shakes it, a small smile creeps onto his face.

“I’m Luca. Luca Pennywort.” That voice is far gentler than she expected, too.

_ At first he was kind of like Hugo’s shadow, but now… _

Hugo’s face changes to something strange as he observes the meeting, and then settles on approval. He drapes his arm over Luca’s shoulders, almost possessively, and gives a half-smile. “Heh! Maybe we’re going to get along after all. It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Claire.” Luca gives a small nod along with the words.

Claire withdraws her hand. 

“It’s not often that someone gets Luca’s seal of approval like that,” Hugo jokes. “You should’ve seen the fuss he was kicking up over…” Luca gives him a dirty look and elbows him, and Hugo laughs. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop! Anyways, I’ll be looking forward to working with you! Come on, Luca, let’s go visit Sho.” And with that they head back on their way to Medical.

Claire finds herself smiling slightly as they go.  _ They seemed all threatening at first, but… _

She finds herself looking forward to working with them as well.

_ …“Teacher’s pet.” _

Well.

_ One  _ of them, at least. She hopes the other one steps in cat sh-

**Author's Note:**

> RIP Hugo, you have no idea the consequences coming your way. Angry Claire is not to be underestimated.  
> Well, I'm not sure what those consequences will be myself, but I don't think you'll appreciate them.


End file.
